


My Guy

by Val_Creative



Category: Degrassi the Next Generation
Genre: 50 Sentences, Anger Management, Bad Flirting, Canon-Typical Violence, Eating Disorders, Established Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Growing Old Together, Homophobia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-06
Updated: 2013-12-06
Packaged: 2018-01-03 14:54:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1071766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Val_Creative/pseuds/Val_Creative
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was no cure for homosexuality... and there was no cure he wanted for Zane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Guy

#01 – Motion

Riley claims " _he has moves_ " when they go to another LGBT mixer, in another year— the both of them completely out this time — and Zane bites his lip to prevent what might possibly be considered a " _maybe_ _not so kind_ " laugh from slipping out as his boyfriend does an awkward ( _but so cute_ ) standing jig.

#02 – Cool

If he shifted a millimeter on his stomach to the coverlet, the sunburned skin on his back throbbed and screeched in protest — even if it continued to hurt like _fucking_ hell— the sensation of the healing aloe glossed on Zane's lightly massaging fingers was going to be absolutely worth it.

#03 – Young

Thirty years doesn't strip the light from Zane's _gorgeous_ smile, and Riley savors the soft press of those lips on his, his luggage crashing forgotten on the airport's floor.

#04 – Last

"…Zane, for real this time, I'm not volunteering the team to wear hula skirts for the school's fundraising Hawaiian luau… I don't care if your ass looks good in it, man; they'll _kill_ me…"

#05 – Wrong

Riley woke up from his concussion in the hospital down the far east side of town and distinctly remembered seeing Zane smile from the passenger seat of his Dad's car, then the feel of his own head impacting against the spider-webbing cracks of the windshield… but never the details of their last precious conversation seconds before the haul truck stripped apart the right side of the car.

#06 – Gentle

When Riley was finally expelled for a brutal fight on school grounds, Zane lost his seldom temper for the first time and punched a shell-shocked Riley on his shoulder once in a faint but fierce motion.

#07 – One

Before joining the football team, he thought the 'two Rileys theory' had to be a delusion; Zane only knew of one — _who distracted him with the strong scent of his men's powdery deodorant and something peppery from lunch — who knew Zane was ticklish on his stomach but never used it against him unfairly — who purposefully went out his way to open doors for him on their dates, and made his day wonderful._

#08 – Thousand

He would spend a thousand minutes under Chinese water torture and scalped, mutilated, flayed alive, thrown to ravenous animals — than to lay a hand on Zane out of anger.

#09 – King

The crowd watches below as a ridiculously tacky prom crown is placed on the top of Riley's head; the Greek boy descends from the stage, arms crossed, and glaring uncomfortably at an also crowned Fiona who sneers nastily on the opposite end of the gymnasium — "It should have been you," Riley mutters out of the corner of his mouth, unfolding his arms to slip a hand into a now grinning Zane's.

#10 – Learn

His fist swung all the way back and landed squarely with a hard _SLAM_ into the drywall — as Riley's harasser (wide-eyed but very much undamaged) retreated from the lobby of the movie theater, Zane closed his eyes and let out a shaky, reassured breath.

#11 – Blur

_The grass spun above and beneath him when the defensive lineman hit him hard, rolling with him; blue and yellow and red and green polyester jerseys muddied; a splatter of blood, as Riley spat out his mouthguard; the shouting occupants of the stands mingled together in different flesh and fabric colors; finally, the world righted again as his concerned kicker heaved the lineman off him._

#12 – Wait

"Most people pronounce it in English "Za-das-ja-ee-kee" but the biggest problem I have with the stuff is that my Mom puts too much garlic in it," Riley said, making a face and turning from the lumpy white bread dipping on the kitchen counter, "it will totally stink up your breath so don't—"and Zane incidentally did not catch that part, blissfully chewing his portion because it was _just so darn good_.

#13 – Change

There was no cure for homosexuality — no amount of specialized and expensive therapy, no matter how many girls he went steady with, no drugs or advice — and there was no cure he wanted for Zane.

#14 – Command

" _Don't_ …" — and Riley's hands scrabbling to undo the buttons of his jeans stilled as his boyfriend says this to him, and Zane slowly and sensually grins, his thumb brushing the denim of Riley's jeans and subsequently _Riley's erection —_ "Let me do it, Rile."

#15 – Hold

The construction site, _Riley's secret clubhouse_ ,is disassembled when funds for it disappear, to nothing but a bare spot of soil next to the apartments — "Nowhere to hide anymore?" Zane asks teasingly, slipping an arm snug around his waist, and the other boy returns the gesture quietly.

#16 – Need

Sometimes, just sometimes, Riley wasn't the only one for who encouragement could be a necessity… but Zane accepted that it was a very difficult process of coming out for the other teenager.

#17 – Vision

Admittedly, Riley had never seen Zane in his soccer uniform, and he wished — crossing his legs awkwardly over the magically formed tent in his track pants — that he had not the chance to be exposed cruelly to Zane's bare, slim calves and those tight, _ugly_ _as hell but so_ _sexy_ , Crayola-blue knee socks.

#18 – Attention

With a haughty expression, Riley turned in his chair and proudly held out his B plus final — "Didn't you know you were dating a brainac, did you?" — and Zane's light brown eyes bugged out in astonishment— "…wait, you're actually acknowledging our relationship in the middle of biology class?"

#19 – Soul

Riley Stavros was more than his fellow bad movie critic, his personal mechanic and trainer, his teammate, his captain, his eye-opener to the glorious world of Greek cuisine, his project partner, his occasional source of disappointment, his high school sweetheart who was still shy about being intimate — he was his excuse to slip out the back window and sprint through a blinding snowstorm to answer a sobbing voicemail; he opposed Zane's personality by being reckless and insecure and didn't seem to quite fit him, but, Zane could not lie to himself and say the challenge hadn't been worth it.

#20 – Picture

"I need a bookmark or something…" Riley complains, tossing aside dirtied knee-guards, and Zane stops rummaging through Riley's desk drawer to hold up the long photo strip from their date at the mall — "How about this?" — and Riley was sure that his boyfriend's smile couldn't get anymore smug.

#21 – Fool

Regardless of whether or not Riley was going to kill him in that axe murderer get-up, Zane was honestly _pissed_ that he didn't even consider their texting conversation about the matching costumes.

#22 – Mad

Zane had told him that ' _mad_ ' had several meanings associated with it — it was not just _aggression_ — "I must be mad to even take you back this time," he would murmur to himself when they were alone, chest-to-chest with Riley, heartbeat-to-heartbeat — it was the _nature_ of their relationship.

#23 – Child

"Mom…" A now fretful Mrs. Stavros glanced around to her fidgeting son in the doorway of her bedroom, shifting the evening's laundry under her right arm; "…We need to talk…" and behind her son, an Asian boy she had briefly seen over summer made eye contact with her and smiled in… was she mistaken… _sympathy_?

#24 – Now

Anya shoved him and mouthed ' _What are you waiting for?_ ' and he simpered over his shoulder at her excited look, flushing when Zane waved a little from across the packed hallway.

#25 – Shadow

Self-hatred used to hang over his consciousness and his thoughts like a suffocating veil, wrapping around his insides, around his lungs, around him like a second nature to his being; the enlightenment Zane had bestowed upon him managed to coax it, bit by bit, to unwind from around his heart.

#26 – Goodbye

Losing wasn't an option in Riley's agenda, and losing the person who transformed him into someone _worth growing into_ also wasn't.

#27 – Hide

He wasn't shaken by the thought of personal demons — Riley had fought them forever — but he hadn't even considered that Zane may have had any to share.

#28 – Fortune

The price for the bouquet of _individually dyed_ purple roses was outrageous and he was fairly certain he had been scammed — the amazed look on Zane's face canceled out any additional mental griping.

#29 – Safe

There were few places for a homosexual teenage boy in a heterosexual-driven society to feel safe; at school it was washing off the black permanent marker or shaving cream words on your locker of _'Die homo'_ or _'Go home fag_ '; at home it was pretending that you were too caught up in studies to date; but in _his_ arms, there was no need to be afraid of rejection or to pretend about your true feelings.

#30 – Ghost

They both agreed… a haunting or curse at Degrassi and a threat of a zombie apocalypse caused by organic bananas did not come close to the sheer terror that were _… mimes_.

#31 – Book

When Mrs. Kwan asks them to read _The Great Gatsby_ through 'a different lens' for their paper and to impress her, implying something majorly hard, his initial panic dwindles off when an excited Zane holds out their literary theory textbook, jabbing a finger to the fourth chapter labeled _'Queer Lens'_.

#32 – Eye

Owen returns the favor one day of receiving a fist to the face, only it was the wrong person — on Wednesday morning, Zane finishes icing his black eye and hopes to _god_ that Riley doesn't ask.

#33 – Never

"I've never forced myself on a girl," Peter said proudly, holding up his Styrofoam cup — with a wince, Riley took a deep drink — "More than once," Peter then included with an evil smile and his best friend muttered a cuss under his breath as his vodka glass was raised to his lips again — "In front of her parents?" Zane piped up, hoping to end Riley's torture, and his face fell when the curly-haired boy groaned uneasily, close to draining the entirety of his alcohol — "In front of her parents and without clothes?" Peter asked eagerly, near-cackling as the glass was once again raised but Riley only took a tiny sip; Zane stared at him disbelieving — "…She had her clothes on… I didn't," he murmured timidly.

#34 – Sing

Riley starts…well, it sounds like _yowling_ … off-key while taking a shower and his boyfriend resists the temptation to 'by accident' toss a loofa at him, clear over the glass pane of the sliding, shower door.

#35 – Sudden

The fire-engine red colour of Zane's spiky hair is highly distracting; Riley touches a strand hanging above his boyfriend's ear cautiously, frowning pensively and wondering how temporary it was.

#36 – Stop

Drew purposely turns the opposite direction to ignore Riley's hand touching the small of Zane's back.

#37 – Time

"...Stole the golfing cart in Sunnybrook...?... It was a _joyride_ , man, you make it sound like we are crooks or something…" The blond muttered defensively over his cell phone, and his left ear soon tingled melodically with Zane's clearly amused laughter.

#38 – Wash

Due to someone's carelessness, their old pink practice shirts find their way into the next load and _'_ contaminate' the new set of whites — when no one confesses to it, the football team glance meaningfully at Zane and Riley who stare back, one with mounting anger, the other shrugging innocently.

#39 – Torn

After the baseball game, Riley flashes that goofy and boyishly charming grin at him through the tinted taxi window; Zane agonizes a little between his original plan of going home or finding an suitable justification to having him roll down the window so he could snatch Riley's polo and pull him into a passionate kiss.

#40 – History

"I had an eating disorder when I was eleven… I was a bigger kid than what was my age group and I hated myself," Zane admitted aloud, gripping Riley's hand hard enough to bruise, and Riley thought it wiser to remain silent as light brown eyes moistened, "…But it is possible to overcome that kind of hatred, Riley… I want you to understand that you aren't alone."

#41 – Power

The sport trophies littering his bedroom symbolized something deeper to him in the past — each one as he grew older symbolized how normal he was, how admired he was, how _straight_ he was — and now they could be what they accurately were: just sport trophies.

#42 – Bother

Riley glared heatedly at the popular student teacher Mr. Del Rossi who handed Zane the new LGBT flyers and winked handsomely.

#43 – God

His parents had raised him as Greek Orthodox — _God controlled anything and everything_ — but religion couldn't scare him away from sinful, stolen kisses at the corner booth of the Dot or the park's bench.

#44 – Wall

" _Haah_ …" A sweating Zane gasps with his mouth open to Riley's shoulder, tightening his legs and his thin back arching against school's cinderblocks, "…C-could we have picked a better place to do this?"

#45 – Naked

It turns out the reason his boyfriend didn't want to remove his clothes when they fooled around that summer was that he was self-conscious about his chest hair — when Zane learns this, he can hardly resist the urge to make a confusing comment about virility and settles for ' _all the more to love about you'_.

#46 – Drive

It was fifty miles between their universities, and they couldn't afford the gas money, and they sincerely didn't care.

#47 – Harm

"…Please don't do anything rash, Riley…" he pleads, flinching a moment when the sides of shaking fingers tenderly brush the purplish-black disfiguration around Zane's eye and temple.

#48 – Precious

Zane had no personal experience with pets or to how important they could be to their owners but what he could do was provide comfort, and he did, gently clasping a choked-up Riley's shoulder as they somberly buried 'Agatone the Parakeet' in a Nike shoebox tied with black ribbons in the backyard.

#49 – Hunger

"Give me a bite of that," Riley orders across the table, smirking — Zane rips a large portion of his burger out and presents it to him still between his teeth, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

#50 – Believe

They were young and stupid, and they didn't question that for a second — _Riley had no absolute certainty that Zane wouldn't dump him for the next overwhelmingly moronic blunder — Zane couldn't be sure_ _if Riley was emotionally stable or assured enough in his sexuality to consider anything past high school —_ and that didn't stop them from trying, because it would kind of suck if they did.


End file.
